1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ear-piercing devices and, more particularly, to an ear-piercing stud gun that accepts a pre-sterilized cartridge containing an earring stud and clutch/nut.
2. Description of the Related Art
Body piercing is increasingly becoming a more commonplace fashion statement. However, the prevalence of pierced ears and pierced-ear earrings remains in the marketplace as the predominant form of body piercing sustained today.
In the past, ear piercing has been a minor surgical procedure performed by a doctor or other skilled medical practitioner, such as a nurse. Increasingly, more routine procedures are used to pierce ears, such procedures performed by laypersons without great medical experience or training. While the performance of the ear-piercing operation is generally straightforward and fairly easy to understand, it is still important to maintain a sterile environment adjacent the pierced flesh in order to reduce any chance of infection or any other deleterious consequences.
To this end, a number of approaches have been made to provide simple, manually operated devices that allow for the easier piercing of ears while creating and maintaining sterile conditions.
One example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,343 issued to Reil on Mar. 5, 1996, Application Ser. No. 292,249 filed Aug. 18, 1994, incorporated herein by this reference.
In the Reil '343 patent, a hand-held disposable ear piercer is disclosed that allows for the piercing of ears. Such a system is not necessarily used in a sterile environment, and all of the portions of the Reil '343 piercer must be made sterile (such as the post P), as does the tissue to be pierced, namely, the ear lobe.
While there are great advantages to systems such as that disclosed in the Reil '343 patent, it would also be additionally advantageous to provide a sterile cartridge so that it might be used without deleterious effects. Additionally, such an ear piercer might be engaged by a stud gun or the like which, by cradling the ear-piercing cartridge, serves to better distribute the manual forces and to allow easier manual manipulation and articulation before, during, and after the ear-piercing process. In order to keep the ear-piercing cartridge in a sterile environment, a closed container of an easily manufactured and disposable sort might be provided. Such a container could advantageously allow easier manual manipulation and engagement of the ear-piercing cartridge by the stud gun.
By providing such a system, a disposable ear-piercing cartridge (such as that of the Reil '343 patent) is more advantageously used, decreasing the chance of any deleterious effects arising during the ear-piercing process.